On 23 July 1863 Alexandra Park named after Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII officially opened with a flower and fruit show along with other entertainments. The Times described it as ‘The Bois de Boulogne of Holloway or Highgate’. Until September 1970, it hosted horse racing, including many evening meetings televised by the BBC. The racecourse was nicknamed ‘the Frying Pan’ owing to its shape, its most prestigious race was the London Cup.
On 23 July 1690 at aged 76 Richard Gibson, court dwarf to Charles I died. His wife Anne Shepherd dwarf to Queen Henrietta Maria suvvived him by 10 years
The London Silver Vaults subterranean strongrooms have never been broken into, they are surrounded by steel-lined walls over 1-metre thick
Staple Inn located next to Chancery Lane Station is the only surviving Inn of Chancery its lopsided timber-framed façade dating back to 1545
On 23 July 2011 the greatest singer of the generation, Amy Winehouse, the daughter of a London cabbie, was found dead in her Camden apartment
In 2008 a one ton bomb found at Bromley-by-Bow during railway work, the largest found in 30 years was detonated by controlled explosion after it started ticking
Tony Hancock, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Bruce Forsyth and Tommy Cooper all had their first success at the Windmill Theatre
The London Silver Vaults have more than 40 subterranean shops which reputedly hold the largest collection of silver for sale in the world
The first Wimbledon Championships were suspended for the weekend so as not to clash with the annual Eton v Harrow cricket match at Lord’s
Heathrow was the world’s first airport connected to an underground railway when what was known as Heathrow Central opened in December 1977
Ealing Studios is the world’s oldest working film studios established in 1931 by the theatre producer Basil Dean
The Blind Beggar pub, Whitechapel est. 1654 takes its name from a ballad was reputedly built on the spot where Lord Montford used to beg
Trivial Matter: London in 140 characters is taken from the daily Twitter feed @cabbieblog.
A guide to the symbols used here and source material can be found on the Trivial Matter page.
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